special date time

For our Spring Break (end of 3rd quarter), I took each of the kids out on a special date while Mrs. N watched the rest of the kids.  First on Monday I took Mariposa to the mall to choose some new pajamas and look around the Hello Kitty store.  We had such a special time!  On Wednesday I took the two oldest kids to Ash Wednesday Mass (Mrs. N came 3 days (like normal) but I had 4 kids to take out...so I doubled-up on the two that love to be together anyway) and then we went to the library and Burgerville for fish n' chips.  Finally on Friday I took Gemma to the South Store and then to the Berry Barn for some special treats:

We shared a mammoth hot cocoa.

Then she got a strawberry shake at the berry barn!

She loved feeding the goats and chickens.

Saying "Hi" to daddy up in his office.

These little adventures were so much fun for me and the kids!  I'm so grateful to be able to do these one-on-one trips every so often.  It was a nice break from school, and we were ready to start back up with Q4 the following Monday.  Summer break is almost here!

And the Oscar goes to....

Sunday after the auction was our annual Oscars viewing party:

Marcus moved the TV into the living room for optimal
viewing pleasure. :o)

Everyone completed their ballots and got them
taped them to the wall.

Kids' table!!

Marcus showed up to the Oscars wearing the
same outfit as me!  How embarrassing!
(And he wore it better!!)

A big part of the fun is finding food that would match up
with the nominated films and actors.

Dallas Buyers Club Sandwiches

The Great Gatsby-n (bean) soup

yummy baloney from Olympic Provisions

Aidan and Lukie thought of this!

It was fun for the kids to keep track after
each winner was announced.

Father Juan was the big winner!!
He is such a movie buff!! (not really, I think he only
saw "Gravity" and picked it for some of the
artistic/obscure awards...it worked!)

No sore losers here.

St. Matthew auction

Two weekends ago was the St. Matthew School auction, always a fun time!  Friday night was family night in the school basement and gym, so I packed up the kids for an evening in town.  Mrs. N and her daughter (my friend) Lisa watched the two youngest kiddos at Lisa's house so I could enjoy the chaos of the Friday night event without ADDING to the chaos.... ;o)  I was so grateful!  Marcus was out of town, just coming back from a trip to Notre Dame, so I needed all the help I could get.

Bunny donated 2 dozen eggs to the silent auction.  Here
she is sorting through our supply, choosing the best ones.

We took this portrait to put on the egg cartons.

Burgerville for dinner, yum.

The theme of the auction weekend was "Homecoming" to celebrate the school's centennial.  We all wore our Notre Dame gear to show our own school spirit:

Bunny's eggs went for $40!!

Saturday night was the adult-only event at the Nike campus (very fancy).  No kids--Uncle Brian and Auntie Coley watched the kids for us so we were free for the whole evening!  I encouraged Marcus to wear his band sweater :o) and it turned out that his was the only non-rented "costume" there:

My handsome date ;o)

I made this pistachio cake with honey-buttercream frosting
for the dessert auction...I think it went for around $40.

Our official school picture ;o)

We "won" a couple of small items in the silent auction portion, and we were the high bidders on a beach house stay...looking forward to using that in the fall or spring as a little get-away.  The best part of the evening, though, was hanging out with friends (we had an AWESOME table)!!  We'll be marking our calendars for next year....

3.14

Happy Pi Day!!!

outside my window

This is what I saw outside the window while I was folding laundry the other day:

Gun Safety class

Bunny and Gemma checked the target.

Good form, good aim

Gotta love these impromptu homeschool lessons!!!

Sally came back!!

Gemma was thrilled to see that her friend came back to see her!!!

Sally stayed for a while on our back porch (I am amazed that she survived, with so much "love!") until she made her way back home a few days later.

Little Flowers field trip

Mariposa's Little Flowers group (with St. Matthew School) took a field trip to our local temporary homeless shelter.  The SOS shelter runs for 3 months at a local mega-church, and it serves a group of about 40 adults (mostly men) by providing dinner, breakfast, and a warm place to sleep.  

~The St. Matthew Little Flowers group~
(grammae was able to come with us on this field trip, too)

 The guests must register at the beginning of the season, and once approved they can come each night through the 3 months.  They each get a sleeping bag that stays on site, and lots and lots of food.  Most of the guests must skip any kind of lunch, so they eat a lot for dinner (always 2nds!) and breakfast, and take some food with them for the daytime.  Our tour guide was excellent in describing what a day would be like for these homeless people...walking around town, hanging out in the library, etc. She really painted a clear picture what it would be like to be homeless.  She explained that it is a ~choice~ for many of the guests, but not for all of them.  There were also some "success" stories of guests who got back on their feet and now are volunteers at the shelter!

The large common area where the meals are served, and for
social time before and after dinner.

About the St. Matthew Little Flowers group:

What:  A club for Catholic girls centered on learning and applying the virtues through the lives of the Saints and outreaching the community through service work.

Why:  To provide Catholic girls an opportunity to gather and learn about their Catholic heritage, faith and traditions. To give them tools to better ascertain themselves as they develop into Catholic women.

The Program:
Each meeting is centered on the teaching of a virtue, to each virtue is associated a flower and a color, think of the colors as threads that are used to make a cloth of virtues.

During the meeting the girls will hear, read, share and learn about our role model -- the Blessed Virgin Mary, our patroness—St. Therese of Lisieux and Conchita (Concepcion Cabrera de Armida) our co-patronesses; saints of the Church, women in religious life, and their own mothers.

The girls will gain a strong self-esteem in being young Catholic girls as well as gain friendships that will support their own beliefs.